Today is NFL opening day. Now, Sabo don't really care about pro football... but seeing as he's most certainly going to be dragged along to the bar for most of my Charger's games, I thought I'd give him a heads-up for the season.

NFL 2014 Season TV Schedule
(Pacific Time)

Week

Thu

Sat

Sun*

Mon

Chargers vs...

#1 9-4

5:30

10 1:25 5:30

4:10 7:20

@Cardinals

#2 9-11

5:25

10 1:05 5:30

5:30

Seahawks

#3 9-18

5:25

10 1:05 5:30

5:30

@Bills

#4 9-25

5:25

10 1:05 5:30

5:30

Jaguars

#5 10-2

5:25

10 1:25 5:30

5:30

Jets

#6 10-9

5:25

10 1:05 5:30

5:30

@Raiders

#7 10-16

5:25

10 1:05 5:30

5:30

Chiefs

#8 10-23

5:25

6:30 10 1:05 5:30

5:30

@Broncos

#9 10-30

5:25

10 1:05 5:30

5:30

@Dolphins

#10 11-6

5:25

10 1:05 5:30

5:30

#11 11-13

5:25

10 1:05 5:30

5:30

Raiders

#12 11-20

5:25

10 1:05 5:30

5:30

Rams

#13 11-27

9:30 1:30 5:30

10 1:05 5:30

5:30

@Ravens

#14 12-4

5:25

10 1:05 5:30

5:30

Patriots

#15 12-11

5:25

10 1:05 5:30

5:30

Broncos

#16 12-18

5:25

1:30

10 1:05 5:30

5:30

@49ers

#17 12-28

10 1:25

@Chiefs

1-3

1:35 5:10

10:05 1:40

(Wildcard round**)

1-10

1:35 5:15

10:05 1:40

(Divisional round**)

1-18

12 3:30

(Conference round)

1-25

2-1

3:30

(Superbowl)

* There are also 1:25 starts weeks #2-4, #5-16 and 1:05 starts week #5.
** Times from last season.

The house has now undergone a general security upgrade from it's original 1950s configuration. Most, but not all, of these security upgrades have been to build a better Sabo-trap. Projects completed...

Dog door installed into the back bedroom.

Flower never had a dog door... instead she had a dog house. There is no reason to imagine Cinnamon or Sabo had ever seen a dog door before.

That little Missile didn't need to be trained on using one. We installed one on the aptly named 'Missile-Door Apartment' where she briefly lived in LA's San Fernando Valley. She was running circles of joy, and trying to go in and out before we could even finish screwing it on the wall. Sabo wasn't quite as quick... I stuffed him through a couple of times. But by that night he was going in and out like a champ.

At the Missile-Door Apartment, the dog door was about a foot off the ground. The little Missile would just barrel out. Coming in, we noticed she would stop, reach up and bat the flap open with her paw, and then jump through while it was swung open. She was a good little dog.

Sabo's dog door is too far above the ground for this. He enters by first jumping on a folded down boat chair re-purposed as Sabo's platform to the dog door. This is the infamous 'Dead Man's Chair'... so named because some dude used it as his outside smoking chair at the 'Crack Motel' down at the beach. After he committed suicide, by starting his hotel room on fire and shooting himself, my brotherman N salvaged it as his outside smoking chair. Later N moved into my Beach Shack, and brought the Dead Man's Chair with him. He abandoned it when he was moved back to WV.

This is from the TV Room to the Sabotat. A couple of new 'peg holes' were drilled in the door track. One to fix the door all the way closed, the second to allow it only to open as wide as Sabo. Before, there was a peg attached on a short chain, and a peg hole. However... I never noticed before... but the old peg hole was misplaced, and it couldn't stop the window from travelling (and thus served no purpose).

The two new secure entrances allow Sabo the effective run of the house, even if (one of) the doors to the back bedroom, or TV room, is closed. Sabo also quickly realized the two entries form a short-cut through the Sabotat from the different sides of the house.

Ironically, when The Missile lived in The Valley, she was an apartment dog, but always had outside access either to a tiny outside concrete porch at the Bill-A-Electric Apts (through a pegged sliding glass door), or the small fenced side yard at the Missile-Door Apts. Later, after she moved to the beach, and later Chicagoland, she was a house dog. But none of houses she lived in had outside access... as none of them were fenced.

Solid fencing was installed at the Chihuahua back side corner.

I still can't figure out how Sabo had gotten through the back corner on the Chihuahua side (five-way corner) into the yard behind the back line on 7-4 or back in March. But I know it's up on the so-called 4th terrace, where all the fences don't quite match-up. But in the end, it doesn't matter. I installed a bit of proper fencing to make this simply impossible now.

The Chihuahua side fence, along the terraces, has been raised.

This was by adding a chicken wire layer on top. I needed to do some research here to figure out who owned this fence. Direct knowledge of it's construction has passed beyond human memory. I didn't break out Grandpa's survey equipment, but I did go down to the CAC to look up the plot map, made some careful tape measurements, and dredged my memory for the stories I heard.

Clearly it is the Chihuahua owner, B's, fence. His dad heavily terraced and fenced their odd triangular and highly sloping lot on all sides. Earlier I said the fences are in great shape. On further inspection, this is only half true... the 57yo bottom cinder-block section is rock solid. The upper wooden section, even though it looks very nice in that rustic old-west style... hasn't been painted in ~35 years, and expect for the vertical posts, needs replacing.

Although the fences along the Sabotat terraces were lowered, it turns out they are also partially down on the Chihuahua side. In fact, after I measured the fences and blogged them above, another board fell down, shorting that fence another eight inches. The wooden sections of the Chihuahua owner's fences facing the other three lots are also down in several places, some massively.

I could just go ahead and rebuild this fence on my side... B ain't going to complain, or perhaps even notice. But since it's not technically my fence, and as it needs complete redoing all the way around, I figured it would be a better plan to just raise the fence with chicken wire, attached to the original taller fence posts.

The Buttons side fence was patched with chicken-wire in a couple of places too.

Grandpa liked the style of B's dad's fence on the Chihuahua side so much, so he built this fence to match. My measurements show that we own this fence.

The other side of the house from where B and his Chihuahua live I'm going to call the Buttons side. That's where Flower's mom Buttons lived... for Flowers first two years. This was the only place along all these fences that dogs have ever jumped over... as mother and daughter used to visit each other. That was until a short piece of plywood was added above the fence here.

I added a short stretch of chicken-wire in the same exact place. I also added a short stretch of chicken wire at the top end of this fence, at the 4-way corner, where the 8" ledge of the so-called 4th-terrace dead-ends.

Notable, and this isn't unusual with dogs, Sabo won't jump over fences. Even though on the Chihuahua side one of the saddle points ended up being only about 16" inches high. Out and about, I couldn't even get him to jump over a 12" high hole in a chain link fence. Dogs, although naturally happy to jump up and down to flat surfaces, don't naturally like jumping "into space" at all.

However, for my peace of mind, especially during electric storms or on the Fourth of July... and since I'm considering teaching him agility training which includes jumping into space, I raised these gaps to over 60" too.

The back line fence, from on top of the 8" wide so-called 4th terrace, is only 30" high on the Buttons side... but again, I don't own that fence, and unless Sabo can do the Fosbury-flop, he ain't getting it anyways.

SDG&E padlock lock put in service on the front gate on the Chihuahua side yard.

The front gate on the Buttons side was repaired, secured.

The original gate had gotten quite rickety, and had the old 'string' style latch on it. This combination made it quite difficult to securely latch this fence from the inside... which is what I'm sure was the cause of this gate being found hanging open a few times.

The old latch was remove, and the fence substantially fixed. Then an entry door-knob set was installed, as well as a slide style backup latch.

The front screen door was replaced with a security screen door.

The old falling apart 50yo front screen door didn't latch, and Sabo could have pushed it open. Before this upgrade I kept Sabo from the front room unsupervised... although he never showed any indication he wanting to push the screen door open.

I also installed a new entry lockset, and deadbolt on this door... to invalidate all unknown outstanding keys, and ensure all six entry locks are keyed identical, and all three deadbolts are separately keyed identical.

The garage pedestrian door was repaired.

It got a new entry lock and deadbolt. It never had any deadbolt, and the old entry lock had jammed shut... which was a severe PITA. This upgrade, and the next, are general security upgrades... unrelated to Sabo.

The back screen door was replaced.

The back screen door which was literally blown to pieces a few months ago by extreme Santa Ana winds was replaced with a security screen door. The back door itself got a replacement entry lock, and a new deadbolt.

Well, I had trouble sleeping, even though I had the little Missile borrowed in with me. We were sleeping on a nest made of couch cushions in the far corner of the living room of a damaged duplex on the outskirts of Chesterton, IN. I had my ear-plugs in, as a dude called Bonehead was continuing his mindless/manic 24/7 Tombstone DVD Marathon.

This house was half a block from Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Park... and that's where we headed about 6 AM. We drove, as it was several miles through the forests to the Lake Michigan shoreline.

The little Missile at that point was deaf, blind, and was wasting away as her tummy had gone bad again. She was also hobbled, as she had tendinitis in both rear legs... but she could still bumble along and still enjoyed exploring around on short and slow hikes. Sadly however, the day before (9-8), she had catastrophically blown out her lifetime trick knee... her rear left one. She was in extreme discomfort standing up... but once up could still bumble along on three legs and enjoy herself.

So, as she was always a water dog, I drove her to the shore. Here I scofflawed one last time... but this time I took her collar off too. I hooked my keys onto it, and used it as my keychain fob everyday for the next four years, five months, 11 days... until 2014-2-25 when I unhooked my keys and put her collar on Sabo when I first picked him up at the pound.

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

After the Missile painfully got up, she explored the sandy shoreline, and headed out into the lake. She crossed a shallow area (pictured at top), barely swimming a short stretch, to a sand bar. After exploring that area, she headed out into the open lake... just long enough to experience that it dropped off here deep... then she paddled a quick u-turn, and returned to the sandbar. She tried to backtrack to the shallow area, but missed it in her blindness. Once again, she headed out into a deep area, but quickly did a u-turn and returned to the sandbar.

At this point, and knowing that I was always standing right next to her... she let out a "bleat"... so I picked her up, and carried her back to shore, towelled her off, and then carried her to the car.

Southsides Bar & Grill, Alsip IL, is dog friendly

Later that morning we drove into Southside's Bar & Grill in Alsip, IL, where we met up with her master S. On the way I stopped to fill up my rental car with gas, and drove through a Wendys. The Missile had a few fries... but her bad tummy had really destroyed her usual gluttonous manner. Also, while driving into Illinois S called me. While he was on the phone, The Missile tried, unsuccessfully, to stand up one last time... S heard her whines of pain over the cell.

Even though Southside's is a dog friendly bar, and The Missile had been a reg there, she didn't wanna come inside this day. So we let her lay in the sun on the lawn in front of the motel next door. One of the reasons we called Cinnamon 'The Missile' was because she was always a heat seeking missile... she loved baking in the sun.

We went in, and the owner/bartender who loved her too, bought us, and joined us in, a celebratory beer. Then we went out front. I picked up the little Missile, gave her a pat and kiss on the head, handed her over to S and said... "kill her". I had a plane to catch, so off to Midway Airport I went.

Her master S took her to her last vet, who send her onwards pro-bono. S said he held her tight as the vet gave her the first pain-numbing shot. He said she went onward at that point, and didn't need the second lethal shot. Later that day, he buried her in a family backyard along side other beloved family dogs.

Chicago Heights, IL; July 2008

Cinnamon Stick, aka The Missile
A Good Little Dog
1997-5-17 to 2009-9-9

I knowing there is a least one regular reader of Sabo's blog. While documenting Sabo and his love (and remembering Cinnamon and Flower) is certainly worthwhile... it's the realization I actually have reader(s) which really makes the effort worth it.

Downer's Grove, IL; September 2008

One mannerism that The Missile shared with Sabo, is that after waking, they'd stretch their back out back to front, and then do a brisk headshake... which was accompanied with a characteristic sound on their jingle-jangles.

Five years ago this morning 2009-9-10, The Missile's master S called me. He swore he was awoke that morning to the sounds of her special jingle-jangle headshake. Of course, we had sent her onwards the day before, and I had her jingle-jangles... my new keychain... half a continent away. I shook her jingle-jangles over the phone. And I shed a tear... just like I'm doing typing this right now. She was a good little dog.

Well, the big 4-state, multi-week vacation, was scaled back in able to get the Sabo Security project finished... and also to get the back bedroom paint prepped. But the painting itself is on hold until after our still big trip. So no LA, Vegas, or Baja... this is trip is all about Arizona.

Kingman Amtrak (ex-ATSF) Station

Friday, we'll be driving up I-15, then across on I-40 to Kingman, AZ. There I hope to visit my Uncle J, and show off the new doggy. FWIW Uncle J was Flower's favorite of favorites... she always gave him the super 'big greeting'. Later, after he gets off of work in Lake Havasu, my brotherman D will be meeting up with us.

Phoenix Union Station (out of service)

After spending Friday night in Kingman, Sabo & D & me will be spending Saturday and Sunday nights in the greater Phoenix area... the highlight being of course, our Sunday trip to Chase Field to see Sabo's Padres play the Diamondbacks at their 'Bark in the Park'.

Yuma Amtrak Station (flag stop, no depot building)

Monday D will head back to his stretch of the river, while Sabo & me head southwest to the Yuma area... and visit with his God-father, and my brotherman, B. The tentative plans are for Sabo & me to stay overnight near Yuma, and then head back along I-8 to Dago on Tuesday.

Friday morning we started out around 10 AM on our longest driving segment: north on I-15 from San Diego to Barstow, then east on I-40 to Kingman. We only briefly stopped twice... the first time to verify that my old favorite dive bar in Barstow, Catz, had finally gone out of business, to fill up with gas, and let Sabo do his full business. The second time to discover my favorite five bar in Needles, Red Dog, is only open at night, get me some snacks, and let Sabo take a pee.

This would establish a motif for the trip. Sabo spent most of the driving time standing on the center console, leaning against my right shoulder, and alertly watching traffic out of the front window... of course, periodically he would retire to the back seat, where his nest was set up, for a short nap. Also, between the cars & hotels & bars & Chase Field, Sabo was on complete 'apartment dog' protocol, never having direct yard access... which he didn't have the slightest problem with, of course.

We arrived in Kingman, ~5pm @ 105 degrees outside (according to the car). After checking into our hotel... and after the temperature cooling down somewhat, Sabo & me headed down the street to Kingman Park, where there was a very nice pair of fenced dog runs. That evening, my brotherman D met up with us. We spent most of that evening at my new favorite dive bar in Kingman: The Sportsmen's Club in the historic Hotel Beale. This classic divey space has been a bar for over 100 years, and is very dog friendly.

Sportsmans Club in Hotel Beale, Kingman AZ is dog friendly

Saturday, after Sabo had sausages left over from the hotel's complimentary breakfast, Sabo & D & me went to the Kingman Park dog runs... ~noon @ 106 degrees. There were very few dogs/people compared to yesterday around sunset... and the few dogs, besides Sabo, were flaked out dead in the shade of the picnic shelter.

After that, Sabo & me visited my Uncle J. We had a great visit & talk... which made the whole trip worthwhile right there. Sabo also demonstrated that he really likes Zonies. He jumped right into Uncle J's lap, several times... something he's never done before. He really, really liked my brotherman D from Lake Havasu... and gave him the 'big greeting' every time they met. And he already s his Godfather B from Yuma.

Then we drove south on US-95 to the Phoenix area. The rest of the drives were much shorter than Friday's, and we made them nonstop. The stretch from Needles to Phoenix was 'new milage' for me... while the whole trip was surely 'new milage' for Sabo. In Tempe, we met up again with D at the Mission Palms Hotel... ~5pm @ 107 degrees.

This hotel is right in the Mill Ave district, the premier Phoenix area bar zone adjacent to Arizona State University. ASU was playing a night game -vs- Colorado in Boulder this evening, so the whole district was 'going off'... we felt it was too crowded to bring Sabo along. However later, to my complete surprise, our hotel's inside lobby bar turned out to be dog-friendly !!!1!

Tempe Mission Palms Hotel's lobby bar is dog friendly

Sunday, of course, was the highlight of the vacation... Sabo goes to another MLB game !!!1! Once again, Sabo refused to get stuffed in a bag, so we couldn't take the light rail line which conveniently runs directly from our hotel to Chase Field. Instead I had to drive him again... and I'm adding the $12 parking fee to Sabo's account. We got there ~noon @ 107 degrees.

Now, I don't wanna say this as in anyway being disparaging to the Diamondbacks. They put on a fantastic dog day promotion, the service and attitude was perfect, and a great time was had by all... regardless of number of legs. But that being said, the Padre's dog day is better... because they try just as hard, and San Diego is better than Phoenix.

At Chase, the doggy check-in area was under the 7th street bridge. This is the only shaded area adjacent to the stadium... a necessary safety requirement in Phoenix (but not typically an issue in San Diego). You could go into the stadium two hours early... but only if you didn't wanna do the on-field parade (It was four hours regardless at Petco). There wasn't a dog talent or costume contests at Chase (no place to have them). There was a very nice 'Swag Bag' given out (but the bag was marked with a generic "Purina", instead of the Padres "2014 Dog Days of Summer at Petco Park / Petco" bags). There was a few dog product samples in the bag (but not a couple dozen tents where you talk to the vendors, and more than fill up the swag bag). The on-field parade was back and forth on a part of the OF warning track (not all the way around the field). The game cost $19.75 or $29.75 for dogs and people (not free for all like at Petco, but it should be noted that the Diamondbacks donate all dog ticket revenue to the animal shelter). The game was played indoors. And on a personal note... Sabo's couldn't meetup with his trainer C at the ball game in Phoenix.

On the flipside, at Chase Field we got to access some of the normally off-limits tunnels under the stadium to get to/from the field, we got to sit in the regular RF bleachers, got to use the OF section of the main stadium concourse, and you could get a 'pass out' of the stadium so your dog could take care of business on the outside lawn. Considering that Phoenix isn't San Diego, Chase Field isn't Petco Park, and perhaps because Chase is a bank and not a dog supply vendor... I think they did an super-excellent job. I was very impressed with Chase Field, and for sure wanna return.

In fact, we also learned from a Padre fan that they do a dog-day at Peoria, AZ for spring training too !!!1!

This was my second indoors MLB game... I went to the Astrodome once in the pre-Cinnamon era. They had the retractable roof closed, and the A/C was cranking. It was 75 degrees in our section (according to the mini-thermometer Sabo wore around his neck this trip for safety). In fact, at first Sabo was sitting in his own seat. But he was shivering just a little, even in his Padres shirt. I've never seen him do this before... but we were right under an A/C duct. He soon moved down to the floor and out of the breeze... where he spent the rest of the game flaked out. Except for the top of the 7th, when I got up to do the visiting team 'stretch' to the bathroom, and Sabo got up to follow me. I took him outside to have a pee too.

Once again, there were dogs all around us... including a yapper down our own row, a clumsy little beagle mix who kept falling off the back of his seat onto the floor behind, right next to Sabo head, and an unruly big dog who passed down our aisle a few times. Sabo simply ignored them all, and just enjoyed the game/his naps. Once again, he was so very good at the ball park !!!1! On the way out a lady who had two little dog's wearing Diamondback shirts stopped to give Sabo, wearing his Padres shirt, a pet on the head... and to give him a good-natured but sarcastic "too bad your team lost" comment. Sabo didn't shy away at all, and took his teasing in good humor, even though his beloved Padres did lose 6-8... he was a happy dog !!!1!

That night, a Sunday after the sun went down, Mill Ave was a much less busy place. So this night Sabo & me checked out a few of the patios along the bar-zone strip.

Bark at the Park @ Chase Field; 2014-9-14

Monday, Sabo & D & me checked out another patio bar (where I had exactly two beers), and then had lunch at still another (no beers). Then D headed back towards Lake Havasu, while Sabo & me drove south on AZ-85 to Gila Bend, then west on I-8 to the Yuma area. We arrived ~5pm @ 112 degrees. There we spent the night as guests of Sabo's Godfather B. After the sun went down, the three of us went into historic downtown Yuma, and had some beers with dinner on the patio of Da'Boyz Pizza.

The week before the remnants of a Baja hurricane, what the Zonies call a 'monsoon', had broke Phoenix's all time rain record, causing serious flooding, and also closing parts of I-15 and I-40 east of Barstow. The normally always dry-lake beds along I-40 were full when we drove over on Friday. The next 'monsoon', the remnants of Hurricane Odile which devastated Los Cabos, was supposed to hit over that night... a possible six inches in three hours.

That didn't happen however, as the storm system temporarily stalled going up the Sea of Cortez (aka Gulf of California). So Monday morning, after B & me had breakfast, Sabo & me continued west along I-8 back to San Diego.

Da'Boyz Pizza, Kress Building, Yuma, AZ

We arrived back at the Sabotat ~3pm @ 102 degrees. Yikes ~~ we brought back the Zonie weather with us. Which sucks... as we don't have the infrastructure to deal with it (especially no A/C). About 5 PM we had, for us, a very rare electrical storm, with a short burst of rain... while the sun was directly and brightly burning us to a triple digits tune. Once again, the thunder was very distant, and Sabo wasn't scared. I tried to hug him anyways... but because of the heat he didn't want any part of that.

As of today, thebiggestboards.com lists twoplustwo.com as the 20th largest forums and message boards on the web. Since there are now thirty MLB teams, 2p2 easily qualifies as 'major league'. The 'front page' claim refers particularly to the House of Blogs forum on 2p2. The BBS software displays 25 threads on the first page. As of this post, 'Re: Flower, Cinnamon Stick, & Sabo' is the #1 blog sorted by most recent, the #24 blog sorted by posts (83), and the #22 blog sorted by views (5678). So regardless of how the blogs are sorted, it qualifies as 'front page'.

I couldn't have achieved this level of notoriety without my (perhaps singular) reader. TYVM !!!1! Although I will have to admit about 5% of those views are myself reviewing/quoting my own posts.

Code:

Editors Notes

Average days between posts

Month

My Posts

Reader Posts

Days/Post

February

5

4

0.4

March

15

1

1.9

April

14

1

2.0

May

8

0

3.9

June

5

0

6.0

July

11

0

2.8

August

10

0

3.1

September*

8

1

2.1

* through this post.

Standards
I set some standards for myself when I started this blog: (a) Document
Sabo, while remembering Cinnamon & Flower. I feel I've done a good
job so far. I predicted it would be a fair amount of work, I'd struggle
with photography, and Flower would unfortunately get the least
coverage... all of which have been true; (b) Post at most once
per day (Pacific Time). I messed this up on day #2 (posts #3 & #5);
and (c) only go eight days between posts (also PT). I also messed this
up between 6-10 (post #50) and 6-19 (post #51). In my defense,
post #51 was my Tony Gwynn Sr eulogy, which I had a hard time
getting in the mood to blog.

Wrong Screen Name
In Post #8 and post #21 should have been made under SN MissleDog,
not SN Shame Trolly !!!1! as posted.

Broken Pic Link in Post #34
The pic at top is broken...
<img>http://www.stansign.com/wp-content/gallery/water-features/animal-care-campus.jpg<img>
This link was to this same pic below...

Is it a three day weekend if an equinox falls on Friday?
Yes, of course. The same goes for the solstices...

This year, the start of Fall is 2:29 AM GMT on Tuesday 9-23. However, that's at 7:29 PM PDT on Monday 9-22... thus making it an official Sabo three day weekend !!!1!

The plan was to finally finish the big 'Sabo Swims around the Bay' weekend on Saturday and Sunday, the last two days of summer. Then start Fall with a hike in Bear Canyon, which is really the best of the urban canyon parks... and which I'll admit I've been intentionally 'holding out' from Sabo during the summer.

But already this weekend I've figured out that we can't really do the "swim around the bay", "swim from La Jolla to OB", and in particular getting to all the islands, all while satisfying the 'Sabo Twist' of not going over any bridges... outside of the traditional summer business season. At least not the way I've planned it. So we're going to save this 'Sabo Big Weekend' for 2015.

Not Sabo's old name

And... Sabo had already made his decision on Friday about how he wants to spend his three day weekend. We were painting over the hideous Oakland A's yellow and green paint scheme Sister J had painted in the Sabo-Door Bedroom back in the day... and he got a little bit of white paint on the tip of his left ear, and a little bit on left side of his distinctive neck scruff. I tried guessing "Paint" as his pre-stray name... but got no response.

So... Sabo has chosen to help me with the big spring cleaning (which I didn't come close to finishing this summer BTW) for the last two days of summer... and then on Monday 'help' with painting the second coat in the bedroom. Sabo, the good dog to be... willfully using his big three day weekend to get things done around the house.

The Sabo-Door Bedroom is now painted a new brilliant white. Wednesday & Thursday the floor will be painted (polyurethane) and Phase I of the household improvements will be finished. The second phase is the modernization of the associated bathroom... but that's going to involve hiring a plumber to do the work.

Not much progress was made in the mother of all garage cleanings, but on Friday, the furniture from the Sabo-Door Bedroom can be moved back in, and that clears up some of the stuff from the garage to be moved back inside, which in turn opens up room in the garage to store some of the unneeded stuff from inside to be moved out to the garage, etc, etc. So indirectly much future progress in the garage cleaning has been enabled.

Also on Friday, Sabo's doggy-door will be placed back in service... which will make Sabo very happy. He 's his doggy-door.

It's not summer anymore !!!1!

Today was the first day of fall... yes, Sabo & me have finished our first two full seasons together: spring & summer. Today it was about 72 degrees, with clear sunny skies and a nice cool onshore. Tomorrow it's back to school for the first day of second grade obedience school.

This fall Sabo & me expect to finish second grade and most or all of third grade, finally finish the mother of all garage cleanings, hire a plumber, start working full time on the Beach Shack, renew my vendetta on OMT (to be explained later), and as my Uncle J recommended during our visit... get grandpa & my "shots" (health care services) up to date just like Sabo's are.

Sabo's Padres could have ended up with the best record at MLB dog days had they won at Chase Field. However, with the Padres loss, the White Sox (2-0 all at home) had the best dog day record... and are hereby crowned the 2014 Dog Day champion !!!1!

This is only fitting, as the White Sox pioneered the whole promotion. We tried to get little Missile into Chicago's Cell Phone field back in 2007, 2008 & 2009. No luck... those games sold out of dog tickets almost on announcement.

The (very very) tentative plans for Sabo next year is to go to a Padres spring training dog day over in Peoria AZ, the Padres dog day (of course), perhaps the Dodgers dog day.... and the highlight... hopefully plan our big summer vacation around the Giants dog day in The City. I've never been been to ATT Park, but everyone who has been there tells me it's the jewel of MLB.

Well, we had our first pole climber yesterday. The folks who live with the Chihuahua next door decided to get the interwebs from TWC, and that means someone had to climb up the pole in the Sabotat to do the install. But things worked just as planned. The TWC cable guys came over and asked for access first. I brought Sabo inside, blocked his two exits, and then unlocked the gate for them.

Sabo gave them a good yapping through the sliding glass door at first... but then decided to take a nap. Unlike Flower he didn't feel a need to yap the entire rest of the day after they finished.

I was thinking of taking Sabo down to Petco to watch his Padres last meaningless game in San Francisco on the big screen in The Park at The Park... but it turns out Paul McCartney is having a concert tomorrow. So it's wait 'till next year...

It seems TWC’s install at the Chihuahua's home Friday didn’t work. During Sabo’s Padres last game this season, he goes out in the Sabotat and starts yapping up a storm. It turns out a TWC tech was back up the pole. But this time he leaned his ladder up to the pole from across the fence. The pole is about a foot away from this fence, so that’s completely workable, and it does put him on the pole about ten foot up… well out of Sabo’s range. I took Sabo inside anyways for the duration.

This Friday we'll have yet another pole climber.

Not at all coincidentally, the MLB playoffs coincide with the end of my year long contract for ATT UVerse. Well it turns out, including my ATT POTS land line, ATT would jack my rates up to ~$190/mo + long distance charges. My old nemesis, TWC, quoted me ~99/mo for their top bundle: more general channels (that I won't watch), EPIX (which I might watch), 30mbps interwebs (instead of ATT's 6mbps), and no long distance charges... all with no contract.

I just kinda know they're going to screw me over, one way or another. But I'm way too cheap to pay ~$1000 more per year... so holding my nose, I'm once again a TWC customer.

Yesterday, Sabo made a third entrance from the house into the Sabotat

Before dawn, Sabo got up to go rush out back to mindlessly yap, as he is wont to do. However, this time in his haste, he completely missed the flap I had cut in the sliding glass window screen door. Instead he just went through the screen about a foot away. This screen is also close to 50yo, and was past it's useful lifespan. Add to todo list: buy some screen, repair.

Sabo's Big Day !!!1!

In just a few minutes, Sabo & me are going down to the Amtrak station to pick up his God-father B, who's going to layover with us tonight on a business trip. I haven't told Sabo yet, but he always loves seeing B... and we have a whole day planned of hikes and adventures with him !!!1!

Code:

Editors Note
To correct my playoff schedule from last post: The Tigers clinched
their division at home, not in Minneapolis. Not a mistake, but the
Pirates lost early, which removed all playoff implications from the
later Cardinals-D’backs game

Sabo had a big day on Wednesday. We picked up B at the train station, had breakfast on a patio bar & grill, then went on some hikes & adventures. Later we went to Sabo's local, Dive Bar #1, to watch part of the Pirates game... and then across town to Sabo's favorite restaurant, Bulls BBQ. The next morning, before dawn, we drove B back to the train station to continue his business trip.

However, and I am dishing the dirt on Sabo again, he had four troubling 'back-sliding' issues this week... issues that he hasn't displayed for almost six months. He snapped at a reg at the bar (to be fair to Sabo, it was a 'special' reg who got in Sabo's face after Sabo had gotten tired of his attention). At Bulls BBQ he started happy-yapping at another dog on the patio, and he snapped at B when he tried to take his complimentary bone away. And today he acted 'defensive' at the TWC tech... and got stuffed into the back home/office room for the duration.

Of course, it seems these projects never end. Just like the Home improvements ~ Phase I Project, which I had hoped to have finished last week. Well it turns out, after pulling up the floor tiles and carpet, that it might be better to resurface the hardwood floor first, before polyurethaning it; one of the deadbolts was re-keyed wrong; and Sabo created the need for a slide screen door repair. Now that the TWC install is in... I gotta cancel the ATT POTS line, while retaining the old phone number, cancel ATT UVerse, and return the UVerse gear. There's never an end in sight for that damned to-do list.

Sister J is flying half way around the world visit us, starting on Monday. This is a big deal for Sabo. Sister J is the head of our extended family. This will be Sabo's first chance to be anointed an Official Family Dog.

Here on my second FBS Saturday w/TWC I noticed I got one less channel than UVerse: no Big Ten Network. So far, I also have one less screen... by old Win-Vista laptop won't connect to the interwebs through TWC's modem. My Win-8 laptop, and my Android 4.2 tablet, connect just fine. I think this is more of a Win-Vista issue, but it worked with UVerse, so TWC should (I feel) be able to talk me through this. In addition, I still haven't been able to get the old ATT POTS number ported to the TWC phone service.

Was Artie, stuck in Doggy Prison ~~
Now Sabo, an official member of the family

Sabo has had a streak of big days this last week. His Aunt J (my Sister J), another one of Sabo's new favorites, arrived on Monday. The feeling was mutual, as his Aunt J officially approved Sabo as a family member. On Tuesday his God-Uncle B stopped back by on his business trip. And from all reports, Sabo went nuts missilating (super-fast, super-crazy running around) while giving B the big greeting... Cinnamon would have been proud. Later that night we all went and shut down Sabo's favorite restaurant, Bulls BBQ. And on Wednesday B & me took Sabo along on our adventures and for a hike.

The only exceptions being if you live in the District of Columbus, or if you get both Saturday, Sunday off, and you get Monday off with pay. None of which applies to Sabo or me.

Anyways, Sabo had a 'big' last three days spending alota quality time with his Aunt J... including sleeping with her in her former Oakland A's theme room, instead of the room where his nest (& me) were.

Well, by now Sabo's Aunt J is back home. She flew Delta this time, and said the flight here was her worst between continent flight ever... and she's been on a ton of these. She complained, and IIRC got some kinda upgrade returning.

Sabo spent a couple of days looking for his Aunt J in the Sabo-door room... so we know he really likes her. But he'll have to wait now until January, when she returns with the whole family.

LMFAO no. In fact Halloween is the worst of all the fake, amateur, drinking holidays. Much worse than St.Patrick's Day or Cinco de Mayo... because of the dress-up angle. Although I did finally and permanently solve the dress-up problem when I Occupied Wall St for Halloween (and marched in the world's biggest Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village).

My complete lifetime Halloween custom

Anyways... and this is all highly tentative... Sabo & me might have a big three days anyways.

I have a semi-tradition of going on a short poker-cation for Halloween. It's a good way to have a little fun, while neatly avoiding the whole dress-up/amateur hour cluster f*** out at the bars. With the added advantage that occasionally they'll be stuff like the time a tall, skinny and gorgeous Laotian floor-person wore a I-Dream-of-Jeannie custom that wasn't even close to being street legal.

No Poker-cation this year, but if I can scratch up some cash, maybe I'll do a Poker-stay-cation... as there are 10 card rooms in the county, most of which I haven't been to since 2011 or 2012.

This Sunday we go off daylight savings time. This causes a quirk in the "dogs OK on the bay" times. Again, it's tentative... but maybe we'll exploit that quirk to take a hike around Mission Bay (on the park paths, not the sand). This is one of those classic hikes... both Flower and Cinnamon did it. It would also be Sabo's longest, as it's slightly over ten miles.

And... I've already promised Sabo a few trips to the dog park this weekend... as we got out of the habit while Sister J was visiting.

... Anyways... and this is all highly tentative... Sabo & me might have a big three days anyways... if I can scratch up some cash, maybe I'll do a Poker-stay-cation... take a hike around Mission Bay...

And... I've already promised Sabo a few trips to the dog park this weekend...

Well, I didn't go play cards on Halloween... instead a friend asked for my help as a favor. And it rained intermittently on the weekend... so no hike around the bay. I did, however, take Sabo to the dog park several times... and he was pretty happy about that.

However, another big event happened this weekend for Sabo. He finally finished the big bag of dog rocks (dry food) that he doesn't like... and I promised him he'd never have to eat that brand again.

It turns out Sabo is kinda a picky eater. He's also a "free feeder"... as in I can put a bowl of food down, and he'll eat it later when and as he feels like, as opposed to gluttonously eating everything as fast as possible. So far, this is his preference of dog food...

About 11:30 pm Sabo awoke, then bolted out into the Sabotat. This time there was a opossum in the taller tree up on the terraces... and this one wasn't playing possum. Instead it was hoping around the branches looking for a way to jump out of the yard. This is the third time I've seen the opossum Sabo's was going nuts over... although I'm pretty sure there was a couple more just over the fence line into the Chihuahua's yard up in the big tree in it's back corner.

I brought Sabo in, and closed his Sabotat access. He went right back to sleep... just like that.

I'd like to thank Sister J for basically rescuing these pics I've been sharing recently. These pics of The Missile were stranded on a long broken old cell phone for several years.

After hinting around, Grandpa finally asked about putting a gate on the front porch so that Sabo could sit with him there. However, I dismissed this same idea way back while planning operation Sabo Security as it opens another escape vector (through the garage), and would require moving the mailbox... consider this under consideration.

Not much else has been newsworthy with Sabo lately. I think he's getting restless however, as I've scaled back the big weekends. So I promised him an Official Big Weekend coming up real soon... if not this next weekend, then over Thanksgiving weekend, but hopefully both !!!1!

So... did you ever wanna have your own Ole'#8 Nest just like Sabo does?

Well it turns out you can do just that. Just get a couple of decorated undersized red blankets, and for $22 plus paypal fees by EBay and you can get your very own 'Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Collectors Item Red #8 Stadium Blanket -by Drakkar Noir'.

Although I still don't know exactly where it comes from, I now gotta hunch. I had always imagined that Drakkar-Noir was a brand of liquor, and the blanket was a give away item at a race track. Well... it turns out Drakkar-Noir is a brand of men's perfume, and the blanket was a give-away item with a gift box purchase or something. Which makes me now imagine it was originally came with a gift to my brotherman N.